SWOS projects’ final workshop and conference

The SWOS Project Wetlands are hotspots of biodiversity, home to more than 100,000 freshwater species, provide invaluable ecosystem services, such as regulating water availability and quality and food for millions of people. They also absorb shocks from natural events and regulate the climate through carbon storage. Despite all this they are one of the world’s fastest declining ecosystems. Ignorance and misunderstanding of their role therefore results in limited coverage of wetlands in policies and management practices. Information on wetlands is often sparse and difficult to find or access. The project fills the information gap, generating information on wetland ecosystems using the new possibilities offered by free satellite data.

In this context, we would like to invite you to , one a Training Workshop presenting a unique opportunity to familiarise yourself with SWOS and the SWOS portal in practical user workshops and the other a Final Conference discussing the current trends affecting wetlands and the benefits of earth observation and SWOS to wetland managers, policy-makers and scientists.

What’s the Training Workshop about?5-6 November: a workshop on SWOS and the SWOS portal in which participants can familiarise themselves with the various aspects of SWOS in an interactive and dynamic ‘World Cafe’ format. The purpose of the training workshop is to teach users how to apply and work with satellite data for wetland monitoring, restoration and management, how to use the SWOS service components (maps and indicators, software tools and the portal) and to demonstrate how to integrate SWOS products into selected service cases (e.g. Ramsar or SDG 6.6.1 reporting).The workshop will offer different training sessions according to participants’ different levels of pre-existing knowledge and tasks that the participants have to fulfil within their user organisation. The workshop will offer several sessions, from how to find satellite data to training on indicators and use cases, including nomenclatures, metadata, software and user portal functions.

Why attend? Learn new skills in wetland satellite observation and receive guidance from experts on using the SWOS portal tailored to you based on your prior knowledge. Engage with experts familiar with the challenges to wetland management and the role of earth observation, free satellite data and SWOS in providing evidence for appropriate policy solutions.

What’s the Final conference about?7 November: a full-day conference on the current threats and trends affecting wetlands and the role of SWOS in filling the information gap on wetlands as well as fact-based evidence for appropriate policy responses. The conference will draw speakers from the worlds of science, policy and wetland management.

Why attend? Brush up your knowledge on wetland science, observation and management. Meet policy-makers, managers and scientists engaged with wetland observation and management. Contribute to the debate on wetland management and earth observation for the protection of wetland biodiversity and ecosystem services.